Brexit & Beyond Newsletter

17 October 2022

Welcome to the 17 October 2022 Brexit & Beyond newsletter

Representatives from Ireland, the EU, and the US have travelled to Northern Ireland to discuss the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, as the 28 October deadline for forming an Executive approaches. The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill was debated at second reading in the House of Lords. There are concerns about replacement EU funding for Northern Ireland. The Lords European Affairs Committee is taking evidence in its inquiry on the UK-EU future relationship.

 

Irish, EU, and US engagement with NI political parties

Taoiseach and Foreign Minister in Belfast

The Taoiseach will meet Northern Ireland’s five main political parties today. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was in Northern Ireland on Wednesday to meet with Sinn Féin, UUP, Alliance and the SDLP. Following the meeting, Coveney said, "We are looking for a breakthrough on some of these issues [on the Protocol] in the next few weeks so that we can have the basis for a step forward on some of the contentious issues before the end of October...It is time to agree common ground so we can put issues to bed." If the Northern Ireland Executive is not restored by 28 October, a new election would have to be called, in line with legislation passed in February. Tony Connelly of RTÉ reports from Brussels on the work to give the EU real-time data on goods movements between GB and NI, writing “the data-sharing element could unlock some of the most intractable problems around the Protocol.”

US Counselor visits NI

Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet travelled to Northern Ireland last week and met with politicians, and business and community leaders. Chollet did not speak to the media during his visit. A statement says his discussions “focused on strengthening trade and investment ties and the U.S. commitment to the peace and prosperity of all of Northern Ireland’s communities.” He met the NI Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and discussed the practical challenges surrounding the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Chollet “encouraged the continuation and acceleration of constructive talks between the U.K. and E.U. to bring about mutually agreeable outcomes to the current impasse, urging both sides to show greater flexibility. He also stressed the United States’ desire for a strong and prosperous U.K. to remain a leader in Europe, and for the U.K. and the European Union to remain strong leaders within the global community.” He also met with the Speaker and the five main political parties in NI. 

Chollet also spoke with European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, “reaffirming the U.S. commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and urging the EU to continue constructive negotiations with the UK to resolve practical issues surrounding the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.” The BBC Red Lines podcast has an episode on the visit.

European Parliament Committee visits Belfast

The European Parliament International Trade Committee visited Belfast last Thursday and Friday “to discuss ways to resolve the EU-UK conflict over the Northern Ireland Protocol with political representatives, business and civil society.” Ahead of the meetings, Nathalie Loiseau, who co-chairs the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, said, “As European Parliamentarians, our priority is to listen to businesses, civil society and fellow politicians in Northern Ireland. We want to strengthen links between the Northern Ireland Assembly and its representatives and the European Parliament. The EU is ready to engage, to ensure the Protocol works for everyone in Northern Ireland, while ensuring all existing agreements on the Protocol and the Good Friday Agreement are upheld.”

The European Parliament International Trade Committee meeting with MLAs

The European Parliament International Trade Committee meeting with MLAs | Source: @berndlange on Twitter

 

Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill was read in the House of Lords for a second time on Tuesday 11 October.

The UK in a Changing Europe think tank has published a report on the Bill and its potential ramifications for NI, the UK, the EU, and UK-EU relations. It concludes that the process of finding a common approach and agreement on the Protocol “should entail engagement with relevant stakeholders and representatives
in NI”. It says that “expectations should be managed — the Protocol will not be ‘fixed’ in a one-off agreement”. Professor Katy Hayward sets out the state of play on the Protocol Bill, writing, “we have an extraordinary twist on the ‘twin track’ model of negotiations that Northern Ireland has been used to in the past. On the one hand, the peaceful path to agreement is being explored by officials looking at highly technical matters of customs, sanitary-and-phytosanitary (SPS) rules and tariff rate quotas. On the other hand, a very different path is being plotted out by Westminster as they consider a domestic law designed to break international law.”

Lord Jay, who chairs the Lords Sub-Committee on the Protocol, said the Committee has heard that “there is a palpable sense in Northern Ireland that their views are not fully considered.” He asked the Government for assurances that Northern Ireland opinion will be taken into account as the negotiations on the Protocol continue, and how Northern Ireland, and Northern Ireland politicians, will be involved in the negotiations. The Sub-Committee published a report on the impact of the Protocol in July and last week it published the Government’s response, which throughout proposes the Protocol Bill as the solution to the issues. The Government states it has been “engaging with stakeholders, including businesses in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and regulators about its approach in respect of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. This engagement will continue, and the Government will in due course set out further details on how this [dual regulatory] model will work in practice.” It says the Government “cannot wait to address these issues” [raised by the committee] and restates a preference for a negotiated outcome.

 Lord Jay speaking during the second reading of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

Lord Jay speaking during the second reading of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill | Source: UK Parliament

During the debate on the Bill, Lord Dodds (DUP) argued that the Bill is “necessary and provides the potential for helping to resolve the crisis in the political process” in Northern Ireland. He said that continued application of EU law in Northern Ireland “has massive, far-reaching, detrimental consequences, both constitutional and economic, which will get worse over time as divergence increases.” He added, “Whether by negotiation or by legislation, the objective of restoring sovereignty to the people of Northern Ireland, to all citizens of the United Kingdom who should all be treated equally, must be achieved.”

Baroness Ritchie spoke against the Bill, saying, “It acts as an impediment and a barrier to those [EU-UK] negotiations.” She highlighted that the NI Equality and Human Rights Commissions, which monitor the implementation of Article 2 of the Protocol, “greatly fear that Clauses 13, 15 and 20 will dilute those human rights and equality protections.” Under Article 2, the UK Government committed to no diminution of certain rights post-Brexit.

Lord Cormack (Conservative) said that there were 59 speakers: 40 were troubled and against the Bill and 19 were in favour of it, including government Ministers. He highlighted arguments about “the emasculation of Parliament” and said there is “a deep disquiet throughout this House and in many quarters of the Conservative Party.” He added, “ decisions made in haste are not always the best decisions.” He proposed a motion regretting that the Bill was introduced early and calling for a delay of six months, “so as to allow time to reach a negotiated settlement with the European Union”. The motion was withdrawn after being debated.

Evidence from academics

The Lords Sub-Committee on the Protocol took evidence from academics on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill on Wednesday. Dr Niamh Gallagher, Associate Professor in Modern British and Irish History at the University of Cambridge, asserted the Protocol protects the Good Friday Agreement, as it maintains parity of esteem towards all parties in NI. She said, however, that the NI Protocol Bill does not: “It breaks parity of esteem by looking after one interest alone.” She suggested that the EU would not be confident that the UK will be checking the compliance for goods moving across its border under the NI Protocol Bill, “so a regulatory border will be needed. That will be a de facto hard border in the island of Ireland.”

Dr Gallagher questioned why checks for goods that are currently destined for the European Union are applied in Northern Ireland itself, asking, “Why can they not be on the British side when no one cares particularly a lot about it?” She said arguments about the democratic deficit of continued application of EU law in Northern Ireland is “a fair point”.

Gallagher said the role of the European Court of Justice in the Protocol is unusual but not uncommon. Henry Patterson, Emeritus Professor of Irish Politics at Ulster University also said it is unusual but suggested this was an area for a possible compromise. Patterson said it had “taken some considerable time for the EU to recognise that the Good Friday Agreement involves more than the north-south relationship”. He said from his perspective, the key thing about the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, “is that it represented a major effort to bring the unionist community on board.” He said the UK Government have “invested considerable time and intellectual energy in engagement with the main unionist parties”, suggesting that the DUP could have nominated a Speaker after the second reading of the Bill.

Gallagher also discussed the consent provisions in the Good Friday Agreement, saying, “Consent has been used in lots of different ways and deliberately confused, but the issue of cross-community consent applies not at all to the Protocol or to the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. It is an exclusive matter—an internal matter—for the Assembly.” Patterson said, “If sufficient people believe that the Protocol has violated their membership of the United Kingdom, that is the reality.”

The Lords Sub-Committee is visiting Northern Ireland on 20 and 21 October and will hold evidence sessions with businesses and community groups in Newry and Belfast. It is inviting submissions of written evidence on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill until 3 November 2022.

 

EU funding

The five main political parties in Northern Ireland have written jointly to the UK Government, calling on it to comprehensively replace EU funds which were lost after Brexit. The letter states, “The Conservative Party made a manifesto commitment to replace the European Social Fund in its entirety. As leaders of the main parties at Stormont, we would urge the UK government to honour that commitment and provide certainty and security for the many people who depend on these programmes by fully replacing the European Social Fund." A consortium of community groups, the ESF Peer Group, which was previously funded by the European Social Fund, has said jobs helping vulnerable people find work will be lost if funding is not continued.

The Finance Minister, in answer to a written question on this matter, says the Shared Prosperity Fund (introduced by the British Government as a replacement for the European Social Fund), “raises significant concerns; it has not been subjected to screening under our equalities legislation, it will operate directly from Whitehall bypassing Executive Departments, it will deliver too little money, it risks duplication of provision and it lacks alignment to our local priorities.”

The Senedd Cymru Finance Committee has published a report on post-EU funding arrangements. The Committee “urges the UK Government to ensure the mechanisms around the Shared Prosperity Fund facilitate meaningful discussions with the Welsh and other devolved governments.”

 

The EU-UK relationship

On Tuesday, as part of its inquiry on the future UK-EU relationship, the Lords European Affairs Committee heard evidence from Lord Frost (Conservative peer and former Minister of State at the Cabinet Office with responsibility for UK-EU relations) and Lord Mandelson (Labour peer and former European Commissioner for Trade). Lord Mandelson said the EU-UK relationship is “poor or very poor” and contended that the key to improving it relies in resolving the Protocol issues. He said there had been a lack of honesty about the trade-offs involved in Brexit. He argued that the UK is “not a normal third country” to the EU, and thinks the EU is now beginning to think more about the relationship it wants with the UK.

Lord Frost said the EU-UK relationship was “cool…quite fragile…but noticeably improving”. He asserted that arrangements for Northern Ireland need to be put on a more durable basis, saying, it would be “better if that is negotiated but there needs to be a serious shift.” Lord Frost maintained that it is important that the European Court of Justice does not have a jurisdictional role. He said the normal EU tools of enforcing agreements are “not suitable for the politics of Northern Ireland. We worried about this when we accepted the Protocol in 2019.” Referring to infringement proceedings launched by the EU, Lord Frost said, “It is never going to be suitable for the Northern Irish environment to have that sort of kneejerk approach for dispute resolution.” Lord Mandelson said “nothing is ideally suited to the politics of Northern Ireland”, so flexibility and creativity is needed. He said if the UK Government “presses down hard on these issues of sovereignty, as opposed to the most expeditious, smooth, uninterrupted flow of goods [GB-NI]…then we’ll be back to square one.”

Other issues discussed at the committee included visas, movement of professional creatives, recognition of professional qualifications, cooperation on foreign policy, and the newly established European Political Community. On Thursday, the Committee heard evidence on the same subject from Alexander Stubb, former Prime Minister of Finland.

The committee is accepting evidence on the UK-EU relationship until Friday 28 October 2022.

 

Other news